Japanese Kimono exhibit on display at Linfield anthropology museum

Published January 14, 2013

An exhibit featuring “The Art and Tradition of Kimono” will kick off with an opening reception Tuesday, Jan. 29, at noon in the foyer of Walker Hall at Linfield College. The exhibit will run until early May at the Linfield College Anthropology Museum.

Visitors will have the opportunity to explore the rich fiber arts tradition of kimono that can be found in Oregon, as well as in Japan, and to discover a tradition that is central to Oregon’s Japanese community.

All of the kimono on display are from a collection of kimono from the Oregon Nikkei Endowment and were made by Japanese immigrant Yukimo Omori Tsuboi. Omori came to Oregon as Masaichi Tsuboi’s bride in 1913. She was a seamstress in Japan and continued to make kimono for her family once she relocated to Oregon. She made a new kimono for her daughters every year until she and her family were sent to a relocation camp during World War II.

The exhibit is sponsored by the Linfield Anthropology Museum (LAM), Willamette Heritage Center and Oregon Nikkei Endowment/Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center. It is part of the ongoing effort by the Linfield museum to explore the rich cultural heritage of Oregon and the Northwest.

The mission of the Linfield Anthropology Museum is to collect, preserve and exhibit objects of ethnographic and cultural importance. These tenets are to provide Linfield students with opportunities for training and practice within the field of museum work; to educate and engage the Linfield community and the general public through student-prepared exhibits; and facilitate an understanding of world cultures.

The museum is free and open to the public. Museum hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, until May. For more information, contact Keni Sturgeon at kenis@willametteheritage.org or ksturge@linfield.edu.